Sacramento pays $160K settlement to man rear-ended by city vehicle

This city animal control truck hit Roger Dunstan’s vehicle in March 2015. California Highway Patrol

This city animal control truck hit Roger Dunstan’s vehicle in March 2015. California Highway Patrol

The City of Sacramento is paying a $160,000 settlement to a man who says he suffered a concussion after a city employee rear-ended him in South Land Park in March 2015.

Roger Dunstan, 64, of Sacramento, was driving south on Riverside Boulevard when he slowed to make a left turn onto Volz Drive, according to a lawsuit Dunstan and his wife Judith filed in 2015 in Sacramento Superior Court. When Dunstan slowed, city employee Clinton Nelms rear-ended him in a city animal control truck, said Noemi Esparza, Dunstan’s attorney.

Nelms is no longer a city employee as of August 2015, city spokesman Tim Swanson said. Swanson declined further comment on the settlement.

After he was hit, Dunstan’s SUV spun around, crashed through a fence and stopped on the lawn of a home, Esparza said.